


Darillium

by tansypool



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:31:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tansypool/pseuds/tansypool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He's taking me to the Singing Towers of Darillium. He's been promising for ages."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darillium

_“He’s been promising for ages…”_

He leaves twenty-second century China after saving the day, as has become routine. They realise it before he has a chance to vanish into the ether, and he isn’t allowed to leave until his hair is cut neat and there is a new suit on his back.

When things went pear-shaped and timey-wimey between arriving and saving the day, his dear Sexy began spitting out sonic screwdrivers of all colours and functions, and he found himself hunched over them, picking out pieces and using his own to force it all together. But the one he is left holding, which has already saved so many lives, is still superior, and still has a life yet to save.

He sweeps into her bedroom with a flourish of his jacket and the tip of a hat. She fiddles with his bow tie _(that he tied with shaking fingers)_ and then wraps her arms around him, whispering into his lips, “About time, too.”

He tries to smile into the kiss.

Though the towers of Darillium are universally renowned for their songs, not all of time has a way to reach them. They lay there under the first songs, rendered by early solar winds, and he runs his fingers through her hair, trying to sear into his mind every detail. The way the curls dance through his fingers, the way she laughs but makes barely a sound, the rhythm of her breathing as they lay together, the only two souls on the planet. The way she looks at him, and he reads nothing but love in her eyes. He only hopes that she doesn’t see the mourning in his.

They make love as the towers sing into the night, and the songs fade into the background as they focus only on each other. After, he kisses her hair as she murmurs “I love you” into his chest.

As the songs end, she coaxes him into the TARDIS, though he wants to stay for at least the sunrise.

“Don’t be silly - you know as well as I do that the nights of Darillium last for days at a time.”

He knows. He still wants to stay. In fact, it makes him want to stay even more as she says it.

She tells him about the fantastic archaeological trip she has coming, when she returns to her usual time and place. A library, taking up an entire planet, but not a soul has been seen. He lets the TARDIS hover in the time vortex as she divulges every detail - her face lights up like a child’s, and he hopes that she isn’t paying attention to his.

At last, she leans into his shoulder, exhausted of detail. “Maybe you should let me go home so that I can go.”

“Maybe I should.”

The TARDIS lands in the very moment that she departed from. _(Her daughter isn’t coming back, and she knows that.)_ As River steps out, the Doctor can’t help but sweep her into a kiss into which he pours everything. They stand there, forehead to forehead, and she laughs slightly at the uncharacteristic clinginess of her husband. Her lips graze his, and then she laughs again as he less-than-subtly drops his sonic screwdriver into her pocket.

“You never know - you might just need to save someone with that.”

“And how would you know that, sweetie?”

“Spoilers…”

He kisses her again, and she steps away smiling, watching him walk into the TARDIS.

As the TARDIS dematerialises, he breaks down against the console and sobs.


End file.
